Most of the candy molds
that are given to me or I purchase are in very poor condition.
Some can be cleaned up in a few minutes but many take longer.
Most have a coating of oil that been caked on for decades.

To clean I use these different methods:

Wash in warm water

Scrub with tooth brush and cream of
tarter

Scrub with steal wool

Boil in hot water, then scrub

Dremel tool with brush

Toothpick to clean crevices

This battleship mold is made
of cast iron. I try not to use any soap on cast iron molds. Here I
am using steal wool. I always wear gloves.